Rope of Sand (1949)
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Producer Hal Wallis evidently hoped to recapture the magic of his earlier Casablanca with 1949's Rope of Sand. To that end, he hired three of Casablanca's supporting players: Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, and Peter Lorre. This time, Henreid is the villain, a sadistic police inspector named Paul Vogel. Stationed somewhere in Africa, Vogel hopes to find a legendary lost diamond field. His principal rival in this endeavor is jewel thief Mike Davis (Burt Lancaster), who continues bouncing back from every death trap lain for him by the ill-tempered Vogel. The scenes in which Davis is subjected to various physical tortures is pretty raw for a 1940s film. Claude Rains co-stars as a diamond syndicate head misleadingly named Toady, while Peter Lorre does his shifty-mercenary act. Billed ninth as the nominal heroine is Hal Wallis' latest discovery, French actress/singer Corinne Calvet. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Complete Cast:
- Burt Lancaster - Mike Davis
- Claude Rains - Arthur Martingale
- Sam Jaffe - Dr. Francis Hunter
- Mike Mazurki - Pierson
- Corinne Calvet - Suzanne Renaud
- Harry Cording
- Hayden Rorke - Ingram
- Jozsef Mariass - Josef Marais
- Josef Marais - South African Veldt Singer
- Everett Brown
- Trevor Ward - Switchboard Operator
- Georges Renavent - Jacques the Headwaiter
- Art Foster - Guard
- Darby Jones - Batsuma Chief
- Paul Henreid - Commandant Paul Vogel
- Peter Lorre - Toady
- John Bromfield - Thompson
- Kenny Washington - John
- Edmund Breon - Chairman
- Nestor Paiva - Ship's Captain
- Blackie Whiteford
- James R. Scott - Clerk
- David Hoffman - Waiter
- Martin Wilkins
- David Thursby - Henry the Bartender
- Ida Moore - Woman
- Carl Harbord - Operator of Perseus Club
- Director(s):
- William Dieterle
- Writer(s):
- John Paxton, Walter Doniger
- Producer(s):
- Hal B. Wallis
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